Safeguarding and E-Safety

Safeguarding Children at Menheniot Primary School

Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We have a Child Protection Policy and procedures in place which we refer to in our prospectus. All staff, volunteers and Governors must ensure that they are aware of these procedures. Parents and carers can access the policy on the link below.

Our Designated Child Protection Staff

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Amanda Raynham-Dobb, Headteacher. 

Our Deputy Safeguarding Lead is Ali Burrow.

Ian Collacott is also a Safeguarding Lead.

Ali Burrow has the responsibility for Looked After Children and Children in Care.

If you are concerned about a child’s welfare, please record your concern and any observations or conversations heard. Then please report them to one of the Safeguarding members of staff as soon as possible on the same day.

In our school we use My Concern to record safeguarding issues and incidences.

Playtime/Lunchtime Pyramid

As part of our continuous drive to support children and to ensure that they feel safe during the less structured times of day, such as playtimes and lunchtimes, we have introduced a Playtime Pyramid. This will give them access to a greater number of staff at these times so they are able to find someone that they feel they know well if they have a problem or a worry.

The Speak Out Team referred to at the base of the pyramid is made up of Mrs Raynham-Dobb, Mrs Burrow, Mr Collacott (Safeguarding Team) and Mr Haslam (Autism Champion). 

E-Safety

At Menheniot Primary School we take a whole school approach to Online Safety. All our staff receive Online Safety training through the Level 2 Safeguarding training and some members of staff have had more advanced training. We have online filtering and monitoring procedures in place and children are closely supervised when using technology in all classes. Our Digital Leaders also reinforce the message regarding E-Safety through their work across the school and through a whole school presentation on Safer Internet Day. We issue reminders about Internet Safety in the school newsletter and when we are aware of a particular issue affecting our children, we update parents so that they are aware of the risks and can take any necessary action. 

Internet Safety is taught as part of the curriculum through our PSHE Scheme of Work 'Jigsaw' and through the Computing curriculum. The children also participate in a 'Project Evolve' session fortnightly.

Project Evolve

This is a comprehensive scheme of work that teaches aspects of Online Safety explicitly throughout the year. It is online and is constantly updated and 'evolving' to ensure that the online safety messages that children are being taught are delivered in a way that is appropriate to their age; meaningful; that encourages reflection; that generates positive outcomes and that reflects the changing world. The content is separated into eight strands which cover everything from online relationships to copyright and ownership. Our Internet Safety Policy is included under the policies section of the website. 

Radicalisation 

The Prevent Duty became law in 2015. It is a duty on all schools and registered early years providers to have due regard to preventing people from becoming supporters of terrorist or extremist causes.

Schools are required to understand and identify the radicalisation risk, manage the risk, productively co-operate with other agencies and the community and to complete a self assessment tool and action plan. 

As a school we encourage all children to become positive and happy members of the community. As part of this we:

- explore other cultures and religions and promote diversity

-challenge prejudices and racist comments

-develop critical thinking skills and a strong, positive self-identity

-promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, along with the British Values such as democracy

We ensure that all staff receive training and that we work with other schools, agencies and the community to identify specific risks in the local area. 

As with all other safeguarding concerns, if a member of staff is worried about what a child does or says, they have a duty to report it immediately.  The Prevent Lead is the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Mrs Raynham-Dobb. 

Cornwall Council has a clear procedure for reporting concerns about children who are vulnerable to extremism.  If the School has a concern, a referral is made to the Local Authority Designated Officer who will then discuss the situation with the relevant and appropriate agencies (Channel discussions) and as a result, a plan will be put in place to help to protect the child or young person from being further radicalised. 

What can parents do to protect and support their children?

Discuss the importance of respecting different beliefs and cultures with their children.

Discuss political opinions in the news as a means of helping children to recognise the importance of democracy and respecting the opinions of other people.

Provide opportunities for their children to learn about different cultures and beliefs eg stories, visits to museums, films, meeting different people.  

Ensure that you know what your child is doing on the internet and that they are using technology safely, making sensible choices about what they access and who they communicate with. 

For further information, please see our policy on Radicalisation which is in the policy section of this website. 

You may also find the links below useful.